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Acknowledgments ix i n t r o d u c t i o n Abner Doubleday and Baseball’s Idol of Origins 1 c h a p t e r 1 Playing Ball in Cooperstown in the Formative Years of the American Republic 12 c h a p t e r 2 Baseball and the Transformation of Rural California 35 c h a p t e r 3 Multicultural Ball in the Heyday of Texas Cotton Agriculture 50 c h a p t e r 4 The Making of Bob Feller and the Modern American Farmer 76 c h a p t e r 5 The Milroy Yankees and the Decline of Southwest Minnesota 104 c h a p t e r 6 Gaylord Perry, the Spitter, and Farm Life in Eastern North Carolina 124 e p i l o g u e Vintage Ball 146 Notes 153 Essay on Sources 199 Index 205 CONTENTS This page intentionally left blank ...

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